Flying to Australia might be exciting...but getting off the plane and exploring the country is even better! We discovered two of our favourite amusement parks called Movie World and Wet 'n Wild.

At Move World, the fear-fall is the most amazing roller coasters except for the Scooby-Doo ride. Do you know how scary it is? Well, if we must tell you, the Scooby-doo ride is in fact so scary that we almost cried! You go around upside down and side to side. WARNING - if you ever get to go to Movie World, do not, we repeat...do not go on the Scooby-doo ride!

If you ever get a chance to go to the Gold Coast, please beg your mum to take you to Wet 'n Wild. They have fantastic rides like the Aqua Racer. You start at the top and zoom your way to the Aqua pool.

We decided that when we grow up, we are going to open up our own amusement park. We hope you get a chance to see it!!

In the center of Auckland city, there is a tower...but not just any ordinary tower...it is the tallest free standing structure in the southern hemisphere!

I wish that the Sky Tower was my home because it has a rotating restaurant. I would enjoy eating all the food I wanted!

Did you know that you can bungee jump off the tower and reach speeds up to 53 mph? I want to jump because I would feel like Super Man flying. When I would jump, I would say, "This is the best day of my life!"

Tevita and Shaitarn worked with Mrs. Barks to write a story about Rainbow's End. Hope you enjoy it!

If you are in the mood for fun, Rainbows End is a great place to gol It is an amusement park full of spectacular rides and food bars.

When your stomach rumbles, head over to the nearest food stall and grab an icy cold glass of soda, some crunchy, salty chips and a juicy hot dog with ketchup. If you are well behaved, your mum might buy you a big, fluffy, ball of candy floss.

The fear fall ride is the worst place after that big lunch. Once you are buckled into the seat, the ride begins to move slowly up to the top......which is a LONG way up. Just when you feel safe and relaxed...it suddenly drops like Zeus's lightning bolt from the heavens. You think that you will crash but it stops just in time!

After that day, you won't be naughty because you will want your parents to take you again next week!

Thursday, September 27, 2012

Once upon a time, there were some silly seagulls who loved to spend their days hunting for left over scraps of food from children's lunches. Sometimes they would argue and fight over crusts of bread. The noise they made was irritating and annoying to the children and teachers who were trying to work. Children in room 12 decided to stop this nonsense by running after then and scaring them away. If these students are lucky...the birds will not return. However, we all know that seagulls never give up and we all know they'll be back!!

Lucy challenged herself to write an exciting retelling of Theseus and the Minotaur. She hasn't quite finished but here is what she has so far! I love all of the delicious vocabulary she used and how she kept me entertained. I can't wait to read the ending!

Theseus and the Minotaur

Children for dinner? Ridiculous!....or not? In Ancient Greece, there lived a king named King Minos. He was very wealthy, but now and then he would get bored. When this happened, he would set sail to challenge King Aegeus, who lived in Athens, to a war. King Aegeus begged not to fight and instead said that he would give him 14 children to feed his Minotaur. Of course King Minos could't say "no."

Theseus, strong and mighty, knew that his father, King Aegeus, had made a horrible decision. Early one morning, Theseus set off in search of the labyrinth that housed the beast. When they arrived, he saw the most wonderful sight...Princess Ariadne, King Minos's daughter. The princess fell in love with his handsome good looks. She offered to help him in his quest to kill the minotaur. Princess Ariadne handed Theseus a ball of string to let out behind him so he could find his way out of the labyrinth, and a sword to slay the beast.

WOW!!! These boys worked with their teacher and another staff member to retell the story of Medusa. Together they thought of "brainy" and "delicious" vocabulary to use in their sentences. Well done boys!!

King Polydectes sent Perseus on a deadly mission to search for the terrifying Medusa. He wanted Medusa's slimey, slithering, snake covered head.

Perseus, in his winged sandals, flew to Medusa's lair. Carefully he tiptoed into the cave and searched for the snake haired gorgon. When he discovered her, he slowly raised his sword and with a mighty blow sliced off her head.

He emerged excitedly from the cave with Medusa's head. He raced across the sky like an eagle to rescue his mum. He pulled the gorgon's head out of his golden satchel. the moment King Polydectes' eyes gazed upon Medusa's head, he instantly turned to stone.

Over 1 million New Zealanders participated in an earthquake drill yesterday! If the ground starts to shake...remember...Drop, Cover, and Hold. Drop to the ground, get under a table or desk for cover, and hold onto the legs of the table or desk so that it doesn't move away with the movement of the floor. If you can't get underneath something, drop to the ground away from any objects that might fall on top of you and cover your head with your arms. If there is a doorway, you could stand under it for some protection .

Wednesday, September 26, 2012

What a fantastic school we have! We love going to Pt. England School because we get to use different kinds of technology.

When we learn something new, we make an animation about it. We draw pictures in Hyperstudio and put them into imovie. After this, we record our voices, add music, and then turn it all into a movie for our blog.

A couple of weeks ago we were so excited when we were given two ipads to use in our classroom. We take photos and videos and write stories to go with them. These are emailed to our teacher. We also read and listen to online stories when we finish our work.

Hopping into the car was so exciting because it was my first time going to the Auckland Art Gallery.If you ever come to NZ I'd LOVE to take you there!

The frist part of the gallery we entered was so amazing it blew my sock's off! I loved the beautiful artwork that the artists from around the world had created.

There were so many creations that artists had made but one of them stood out to me. It was a gigantic puffy flower hanging from the ceiling. It opened and closed like a book that's being read. I wonder how the creator made it?

Next time when it's my birthday, I will beg and plead with my parents to take me to the art gallery so my friend's can explore the art with me. When I grow up I hope to make inspiring art of my own to go on the gallery walls.

Last Thursday was not an ordinary Thursday...it was extraordinary! The students at our school were divided into teams named after various countries, and participated in an Olympic sport day!! Here you can see us enjoying the parachute...let's face it...you're never too old to play with a parachute!

Monday, September 24, 2012

You are thinking to yourself....."What in the world has happened to this poor girl?" Well, we wondered the same thing when she showed up to school Monday morning. It's sort of a funny story. Khaia was playing netball Thursday after school and she ended up falling and breaking one arm...she came to school Friday because she is tough as! Then if you can believe it, she showed up a few days later with both arms broken!!! The doctors didn't realise at first that she had broken both of her arms. We were happy to help her out when one arm was in a cast...but now with two arms not working properly....our teacher says we have to treat her like a princess...and do EVERYTHING for her!!!

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Today at our school we had an Olympic Sports day to celebrate the end of our term. I was the official photographer for team Spain. Here is a picture I took on our ipad of one of the little year 1 girls who did an awesome job during the spoon race. She had to carry a tennis ball on a spoon without dropping it.

Wednesday, September 12, 2012

Tommy Wilson, who is a 'Professional Dreamer,' has written several books for kids. He came to speak at our school assembly and read one of his stories to us....it was fabulous! Tommy wanted us to remember the following things:

Wednesday, September 5, 2012

In our room, we are practicing writing detailed sentences with "delicious" vocabulary. Sean worked really, really hard to put together the following story. Hope you enjoy!!!

Love is a powerful thing and King Polydectes was consumed with love for Danae. Daily she refused his offer for marriage. King Polydectes realised with Perseus out of the way, Danae would be forced to accept his proposal.

Perseus was sent on a deadly quest to go get the gorgon Medusa's head. If he succeeded, Perseus would get his beautiful mother back with him.

Cautiously, Perseus stepped into the ferocious gorgon's secret lair. He saw all the mighty warriors that suffered from the eyes of Medusa and had been turned to stone. Perseus found Medusa with the reflection from the shield that the gods gave him. Also with the sword the gods gave him, he fiercely severed her grotesque face that was covered with masses of hissing snakes.

Successfully, Perseus emerged from Medusa's secret lair. He shot above the menacing, stormy clouds with Medusa's head. King Polydectes had no idea how Perseus succeeded. Medusa's gaze still had the power to turn people to stone and when King Polydectes looked into her eyes, he instantly turned to stone from head to toe.